McDermott wants united Royals

Reading boss Brian McDermott believes the spirit of the players and fans can drag his struggling team out of trouble.

The Royals remain rooted to the bottom of the Barclays Premier League as the season approaches its mid-point after losing their last seven matches. But after going down 5-2 to Arsenal last week, McDermott's men at least responded strongly with a creditable performance at Manchester City on Saturday.

Swansea visit the Madejski Stadium on Boxing Day, and McDermott said: "In the last three games we haven't really performed the way I know we can. But against Arsenal we were three and four down and we fought back. You could see the spirit in the group and you certainly saw the spirit in the group on Saturday."